The Eldest Daughter of a Rural Family
Chapter 812 - 173: I’m Not a Coward_4

Chapter 812: Chapter 173: I’m Not a Coward_4

The guards had already dragged the coachman aside.

"Are you trying to put me under house arrest?" Shen Rou shouted in anger.

Hong Xia’s eyes flickered, "We wouldn’t dare! We are simply responsible for Ms. Shen’s safety. If Ms. Shen wishes to return home, please wait another two days, and the guards will escort you back to the capital."

"You... How dare you!" Shen Rou was both furious and frightened. They actually dared to keep her under house arrest at home, and Brother Liuming treated her like this! They really dared to?

"Ms. Shen! For your safety, please return to your room to rest," Hong Xia said with a slight smile, trying to persuade her.

Just as Shen Rou was about to lose her temper, she saw Pei Qian come out from the backyard, leading little Jiujiu who’d just woken up, and furiously said, "Pei Qian! Are you trying to keep me under house arrest!? Brother Liuming allowed me to stay at your house for two days, yet you dare to put me under soft imprisonment!?"

Pei Qian glanced at Hong Xia and Cao Li. Even Cao Li had taken action—could it be the eldest sister and her husband? But she had no kind words for Shen Rou, "Put you under house arrest? Do you think it’s necessary? No one in our family wants you here; you’re free to leave!"

"No one’s welcoming me, yet you have someone blocking my way? Are you afraid that if I go to find Brother Liuming, you won’t be able to get married? You put me under house arrest and have the nerve to deny it!?" Shen Rou didn’t believe her.

"If he’s willing to take you, by all means go find him! Look at you, a daughter of the Official’s family, chasing after a man and even pursuing him to his home. Which respectable family would want you!?" Pei Qian retorted angrily, her words laced with venom.

Deeply humiliated, Shen Rou retorted, "As long as I show up at his house, you’ll have no chance!"

"Then go ahead and try! See if he’s really willing to marry you!" Pei Qian said mockingly with a cold laugh.

Hong Xia interjected from the side, "The Fang family had previously come to ask for a marriage alliance, but the madam feared the youngest daughter was too young, and that there could be unforeseen events, so she didn’t agree. The young master has been waiting for our third young mistress to grow up! Otherwise, they would have been married long ago!"

Pei Qian gave her a sidelong glance.

Shen Rou knew that Fang Liuming had arranged for her to stay here not just for her reputation, but because he feared that if she went to the Fang family, they would have to acknowledge her, accept her, and he would have no choice but to marry her. She had initially considered retaining her dignity, but now they had put her under house arrest. Her face reddened with anger, "Then let me pass! Let’s see if he marries me or comes seeking your hand!"

The maidservants hurriedly helped the coachman up, took Shen Rou’s luggage and watched them warily.

"He will surely take you as his wife, because I have never agreed to any damn marriage! Get out!" Pei Qian said, her face clouded with anger.

"Cao Li!"

Seeing her anger, Cao Li coldly withdrew his hand and stepped aside.

Zhang Gengshan quickly approached, "The young master is already on his way here. Ms. Shen, perhaps you could wait?"

Shen Rou hesitated for a moment, but she knew she had to make it a reality if she didn’t want her humiliation and efforts to have been in vain. Now cornered, she had no alternative but to marry him!

No sooner had she stepped out of the alley and left the town than she ran into Fang Liuming riding towards her.

"Sir Fang!" The coachman quickly halted and reported to the inside.

Shen Rou lifted the carriage curtain and stepped down, her eyes reddening, "Brother Liuming..." She didn’t complain, but her look spoke volumes.

Fang Liuming’s gaze swept over her only once before settling on Pei Qian not far behind.

Seeing that she had actually followed, Shen Rou was filled with fury, "Brother Liuming! Did you place me in their house so they could imprison me?"

Fang Liuming frowned.

Seeing this, Shen Rou pleaded pitifully, "Pei Qian, in order to marry you, has actually placed me under house arrest..."

Pei Qian glared at Fang Liuming with cold ridicule, "House arrest? When someone can’t rest easy and runs over first thing in the morning, how could we dare to imprison you!? You shamelessly seek to present yourself at his doorstep and push the blame onto us!"

"You... You clearly had the guards and maids stop me... You said you never agreed to an engagement with him, and yet..." Tears of shame and anger welled up in Shen Rou’s eyes.

A flash of agony crossed Fang Liuming’s eyes as he glanced at her hands clasped in her sleeves, pursing his lips, "Qianqian! When people barge in, are you really going to just hand things over to them!?"

Pei Qian’s expression changed; she found Shen Rou exceedingly irritating to look at, despising her frail, pitiful demeanor, infuriated that she had followed and intruded into their house. And now she was being confronted yet again...

Hong Xia also said in a low voice, "Third young mistress, you can’t just let people take things away whenever they come for them!"

Shen Rou observed her changing expressions and her tears started to fall, "Brother Liuming! Now that I’ve come, do you want me dead?" How could she live if, after following him all this distance, abandoning her dignity and pride, she was treated so cruelly and rejected for a crass and spiteful cousin whose beauty was incomparable to hers?

Seeing her threatening herself with death, Pei Qian took a deep breath, "If you want to die, you can go ahead and die now!"

Angry and hateful, Shen Rou glared at her, then looked back at Fang Liuming.

But Fang Liuming’s eyes were fixed on Pei Qian.

"I had originally refused, but considering that you chased me down from so far away, I’m not lacking suitors that I have to reduce myself to this. But now that you’ve brought up wanting to die, I’m suddenly very interested to see just how you plan to die, shameful as you are, running here to cause trouble!" Pei Qian clenched her fists and sneered at Shen Rou.

"You... you..." Shen Rou gasped for breath in her rage.

But Fang Liuming’s eyes gradually widened, "Qianqian! You... you’ve agreed to marry me!?"

Pei Qian glanced at him and said coldly, "I’m not a coward! I won’t let it be stolen from me a second time!"

"Qianqian! Qianqian!" Fang Liuming was somewhat incredulous and awkwardly overjoyed. He had intended to provoke her and she had really, really said yes!

Shen Rou’s vision darkened. What would she amount to if Fang Liuming married Pei Qian? She had followed him all this way, casting aside her dignity and self-respect, only to be treated this way!? For a rude and spiteful cousin who wasn’t even a fraction as refined as her!?

With hatred swirling in her heart, Shen Rou glared bitterly at Pei Qian and Fang Liuming, her eyes hurting with the sting of pain. She couldn’t believe that the Fang family elders would all like such a shrew. Since she had already come, she would not let them treat her this way!

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